Rates of cervical cancer vary substantially from state to state, and health experts hoped that the HPV vaccine would help even them out. But new research shows that hasn’t happened – at least not so far.

Q: I'm 71 years old. Do I need Pap tests at my age?
A: The early detection and treatment of cervical cancer is a remarkable medical success story.
After the introduction of regular screening by Pap smears, cervical cancer rates began to go down...

An email with the subject line "OMG" recently came from one of our mothers, and it contained chilling information about the HPV vaccine. "200 people have died from it," Mom claimed, "and it does not even last long enough to prevent cervical cancer."
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Lung cancer kills three times more Virginians each year than any other cancer. In its soon-to-be-released annual report, the Virginia Cancer Registry revealed that though its incidence ranks third to prostate and breast cancer, lung cancer has by far...

Virginia scores better than most in its ability to protect its residents against infectious disease outbreaks, according to a report released Tuesday by Trust for America's Health, TFAH, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Virginia had a positive...

Having taken a fair amount of heat from the science-based community for her recent show promoting scare stories about an important immunological vaccine, Katie Couric has backed off.
In a piece appearing Tuesday in the Huffington Post, the TV host conceded that some of the criticism that the segment was "too anti-vaccine and anti-science" was "valid...in retrospect." She acknowledged that "more emphasis should have been given to the safety and efficacy of the HPV vaccines." The initials stand for the...

Katie Couric may want to brush up on her reporting skills before she takes on her new role as "global anchor" at Yahoo!, according to a number of critics displeased with a report about the HPV vaccine on her syndicated talk show, "Katie."
In a segment that aired Wednesday, Couric and a panel of guests discussed the supposed controversy surrounding the vaccine, known as Gardasil, which prevents transmission of a sexually transmitted disease that affects an estimated 79 million Americans and has been...

The anti-vaccination movement has long been a public menace. It's responsible for the resurgence of numerous serious diseases that were on the decline, including measles, mumps and whooping cough.
Now the movement has been given a big booster shot by Katie Couric, who devoted a large portion of her daily talk show Wednesday to some highly emotional and scientifically dubious claims by critics of Gardasil, a leading vaccine for human papillomavirus, or HPV.
The segment focused on a mother convinced...

Simply referring to Maria Trent, M.D., as a pediatrician is a bit like calling Barack Obama an executive.
The Johns Hopkins Children's Center doctor's continuing achievements as a researcher, clinician, professor and advocate for adolescent health education brought her to the attention of Ebony magazine's editorial board, which named her in its December issue as one of the nation's 100 most influential African-Americans for 2013. She and her fellow honorees — including Kerry Washington, Magic...

Nearly 1 in 10 young Americans between ages 14 and 21 acknowledges having perpetrated an act of sexual violence at least once, and 4% of a nationally representative sample of American kids reported attempting or completing rape, a new study finds.
While those most likely to report initiating unwanted sexual contact in their early to mid-teens were boys, girls were among the perpetrators as the age of respondents increased. Latino and African American youths, and those from low-income families, were less...

Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones have split, at least for a while.
"Catherine and Michael are taking some time apart to evaluate and work on their marriage," a rep for the actress said in a statement Wednesday.
The Hollywood power couple, who married in 2000 and have two children together, haven't been photographed together since April 22 and decided to separate in May after he returned from the Cannes Film Festival, People first reported. Neither has taken action toward divorce or legal...